Moving Along with Spring Planting 2020 Trent Brandenburg has already planted about 1200 acres of corn and soybeans. He is following his corn-bean rotation and choosing to plant fields with the best soil conditions and then planting according to his rotation plan. “At least it’s not as wet as last year,” Trent observed, explaining that […]

Machinery Ready for Spring Planting Trent Brandenburg has his machinery ready to roll. “It’s all pointed in the right direction. I’m just waiting for it to quit raining so I can drive it out of the machine shed.” Trent wonders if he will have another wet spring like last year. He is more concerned with […]

Late Winter Means Tax Time and Spring Equipment Preparation Trent Brandenburg is “doing my taxes” and added, “I do what my accountant tells me.” Taxes are not Trent’s favorite farm chore but has to be done anyway. The mid-February big snow and deep freeze (minus 15 wind chill) make these few days a good time […]

Winter Rains & Flooding Following 60 Degrees in January Trent Brandenburg believes the jumbled, abnormal weather patterns of 2019 “are not done yet.” He continued, “It’s supposed to get cold in December and stay cold until March. But here we are having 60-degree days in January and it’s still raining!!” Trent wants to move grain […]

Snow Before Thanksgiving As the 2019 harvest dragged on, producers found themselves contending with not only wet fields but also snow-covered fields to slow down field work even further.   With all of the year’s challenges, yields were still quite respectable. Trend Brandenburg asked “How are 200-bushel corn and 65-bushel beans not good?” when asked about […]

Trent is about 35% done with his corn harvest. He wants to get his beans out first. The corn maturity is also irregular and spread-out for the same reasons as the beans.

Trent visited the Farm Progress Show in Decatur this week, to keep up with new developments and enjoy the friendly greetings of the various ag sales people.

Trent Brandenburg said, “The corn looks amazingly well for the conditions it was planted in. He continued, “Beans are a different story. There aren’t any nice-looking bean fields because of the spotty germination.”

Trent Brandenburg says 2019 is the latest planting year he ever experienced. At the end of May, he has planted NO soybeans and has about 140 acres of corn left to plant. His earliest-planted corn (April) is up 8 to 12 inches and looking good. The rest of his corn “is all over the place, from 3 to 4 inches tall on up.” None of his seed was planted in ideal conditions, “but the calendar says you have to,” Trent added wryly.

At the end of April, 2019, Trent Brandenburg has only 100 acres of corn planted. He is usually nearly done with planting at this time of year. “It’d be different if I was the only farmer in Illinois who didn’t have a crop in,” Trent observed. “I’ve planted corn in May before and it did fine.”